Chapter 350 - Imperial Descendent, Emperor’s Disciple

“It can’t be that coincidental, right? If we get matched with Lu Ran and a bunch of alternate-world beastmasters, our chances of clearing this will be slim...” Jiana stammered.

Jialan smiled bitterly. “It’s just a guess. It might also be as you said—just a minor event not worth recording.”

This incident also caught the attention of the other eleven participants hidden in Imperial Beast City. This level 3 ascension realm had matched a total of 14 beastmasters from Blue Planet and Stellar Moon Federation.

However, most people’s views on the matter aligned with Jialan and Jiana’s. They assumed it was just a small, unrecorded historical event, not worth paying attention to. Or at least, that was until an imperial decree was delivered to the Yan imperial family after “Yan Lu” acknowledged his ancestry.

Emperor Yun intended to take Yan Lu, a descendant of the Yan clan, as his disciple. As soon as the decree was issued, many of the Yan family’s prodigies, who had been hostile to Lu Ran, were shocked.

The news spread rapidly, stirring up a storm in the city and shocking other imperial clans and Legendary families, who couldn’t fathom why Emperor Yun would suddenly do such a thing.

Of course, the most shocked were the participants hidden in Imperial Beast City who still hadn’t found leads on top-tier familiars.

“Emperor Yun is taking a disciple? Are you kidding me?”

“History books clearly state that Emperor Yun never took a disciple in his lifetime!”

“What’s the background of this Yan Lu? First, he was acknowledged by the Yan clan, and now he’s being taken as a disciple by Emperor Yun?”

“

Tsk.

Could this guy be a participant? The only way the realm’s history could differ from real history is if a participant interfered.”

“Fuck, but that still doesn’t make sense. How could a level 3 beastmaster get adopted as a disciple by the emperor of the Beastmaster Empire just two days after entering the realm? That’s not logical. Who the hell is Yan Lu?”

At this moment, the participants were dumbfounded. The Yan family’s ancestry acknowledgment ceremony had caused a stir in the imperial city because the young man named “Yan Lu” was just too extraordinary.

The Yan imperial family, having learned in advance that Lu Ran was to become Emperor Yun’s disciple, naturally couldn’t treat the ceremony as any old ceremony. Thus, after Lu Ran’s acknowledgment, the Yan imperial family immediately announced that he would enjoy the status of an “imperial descendant.”

The treatment of an imperial descendant wasn’t something an ordinary clan member could access. When an imperial clan bestowed this honor on a young member, it meant the clan would devote all its resources to nurturing that beastmaster.

The current head of the Yan imperial family, Yan Feng, had once enjoyed the status of an imperial descendent, which allowed him to become a Legendary beastmaster by the age of 25. Now, the Yan imperial family had granted this status to an outsider which was something no one had expected.

Imperial descendant and the emperor’s disciple. These stacked identity buffs instantly elevated Lu Ran from an unknown, newly arrived beastmaster in the imperial capital to the most prestigious second-generation elite in Imperial Beast City.

“This contradicts history. This guy must be a participant. Damn, being the imperial descendant and the emperor’s disciple? Is he cheating?”

While the other participants cursed, Lu Ran had already moved into his new, magnificent residence. Lu Ran himself hadn’t expected this. He thought it would just be an ordinary ancestry acknowledgment, but he had somehow become the Yan imperial family’s imperial descendant.

This is... too good to be true.

However, Lu Ran had a rough idea of what was happening. The title of imperial descendant was just an empty honor, clearly given to him by the Yan family to strengthen his sense of belonging.

Whether they truly treated him as an imperial descendant would depend on whether the resources followed. This ascension realm had kept Lu Ran incredibly busy, leaving him little time to nurture his familiars.

The day after the ancestry acknowledgment, Lu Ran rushed to the palace to meet his master. The ascension mission had to take priority. This mission also had a time limit of 21 days.

Lu Ran wasn’t sure how difficult it would be to tame a quasi-Legendary familiar, so he had to give it his all and avoid distractions. Right now, the Six-Path Flower was his main target.

However, since he couldn’t guarantee 100% success, Lu Ran also treated the other two quasi-Legendary familiars, and even the Lava Cataclysm Beast, as backups. If luck wasn’t on his side, he would try to meet as many as possible within the limited time.

“Greetings, Master.”

Upon arriving at the palace, Lu Ran found Emperor Yun engaged in a sandbox simulation of military strategy.

Emperor Yun looked at Lu Ran and said, “You’re here. Alright, now, I’ll take you to meet the Six-Path Flower. If you’re lucky, it might take you under its wing for training. However, whether you can earn its recognition depends entirely on your luck. In the empire’s thousand-year history, only two people have trained under the Six-Path Flower.”

Emperor Yun wasn’t lying to Lu Ran. The Six-Path Flower had once said it didn’t mind taking in individuals of extreme goodness or evilness for training. In the past, a notorious villain in the empire had been singled out by the Six-Path Flower to train in its Hell Path. There had also been a saint who trained under it for a time.

Unfortunately, neither ended well. The villain died during training, and the saint sacrificed herself to protect a region from a natural disaster.

***

The Six-Path Flower always resided in a spatial secret realm within Imperial Beast City. Lu Ran followed Emperor Yun to a mountain range, doing his best to calm his mind.

“Senior Six-Path Flower, are you there?”

Standing on top of an unremarkable mountain, Emperor Yun sent out a mental call for the Six-Path Flower. After a long wait, a spatial ripple finally appeared.

Emperor Yun smiled and said to Lu Ran, “Follow me.”

With a light step, he entered the spatial secret realm. Lu Ran quickly followed.

The spatial secret realm resembled a flower field, with the ground covered in blossoms and brimming with vibrant natural energy. After Emperor Yun and Lu Ran entered, a black-and-white butterfly slowly fluttered up from the flowers.

Lu Ran was momentarily stunned, almost thinking Emperor Yun had brought him to meet the Starwing Butterfly. But upon closer inspection, he realized this butterfly had no life energy. It seemed to be nothing more than a parasitic puppet. The six-petaled flower perched on top of the butterfly was the true form of the Six-Path Flower.

[Species: Six-Path Flower]

[Attribute: Grass]

[Species Rank: Quasi-Legendary]

[Level: 99]

“Shit.” Lu Ran was completely and utterly dumbfounded.

Level 99 was the highest-level lifeform he had ever encountered since becoming a beastmaster. Even the thousand-year-old dragon that followed a Legendary lifeform under the Tree Monarch’s command was only a level 93 quasi-Legendary.

No wonder even Emperor Yun addressed it as “senior.”

Emperor Yun’s strongest familiar was probably a level 80+ Superior Overlord, which might not even survive a single strike from the Six-Path Flower. This was the true foundation of the Beastmaster Empire.

Unfortunately, the Six-Path Flower had only promised to intervene if the empire faced annihilation. Otherwise, the Four Great Beast Empires wouldn’t stand a chance.

Lu Ran guessed that when the Beastmaster Empire eventually fell, either the Six-Path Flower had already left, or, as the legends said, a divine beast had intervened, leaving the Six-Path Flower powerless.

Emperor Yun smiled and said, "Senior Six-Path Flower, I’ve recently taken a disciple and would like you to assess his talent."

A faint voice emanated from the six-petaled flower cradled by the black-and-white butterfly. "Very well."

It was a crisp, feminine voice that resonated in their minds. The emperor was the only person in the empire who could normally communicate with the Six-Path Flower, but each communication came at a price.

Asking the Six-Path Flower to intervene was outright impossible, but tasks like assessing talent or alignment were manageable as long as the imperial family paid the price.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The price was enough for Emperor Yun to afford. As the emperor, he only needed to perform a few major acts of good or evil with significant national impact.

Of course, though the option existed, no emperor dared to use evil deeds as payment, fearing they might be dragged into the Hell Path for training.

The Six-Path Flower had assessed human hearts many times and was highly skilled at it. A single look was usually enough to see through a person.

However, Emperor Yun’s request this time left the Six-Path Flower, hovering in midair, stunned. No matter how hard it tried to probe Lu Ran’s heart, it was like staring into an abyss of black and white, bottomless and impenetrable. It couldn’t detect his alignment or talent at all!

How is this possible?

The Six-Path Flower was astonished and redoubled its efforts. Meanwhile, Lu Ran stared back eagerly, thinking that having the emperor present was a bit of a nuisance.

Can’t I be left alone with the Six-Path Flower?

Finally, after relentless effort, the Six-Path Flower managed to forge a mental connection with Lu Ran. Although it still couldn’t discern his alignment, it glimpsed a miniature deer deep within his heart. This deer seemed to be a protective layer over Lu Ran’s mental power, imbuing his heart with extraordinary energy.

Sensing the aura of the deer-like being, the Six-Path Flower said in surprise, “His talent has been altered by a special blessing from a Legendary lifeform. I cannot assess him.”

“What?” Emperor Yun was stunned and stared at Lu Ran, never expecting such an outcome.

At this point, Lu Ran rubbed his nose and feigned surprise. “Huh? You actually saw through it? The Divine Deer didn’t want me to reveal our connection. As expected of Senior Six-Path Flower. Truly impressive.”

“Divine Deer? You mean the Divine Deer, one of the Life Divine Dragon’s kin, and the one with authority over natural life?” Emperor Yun was shocked even further.

“Yes, Master. I once encountered the Divine Deer. It said my talent was promising and enhanced my mental power. I even became its messenger, but it said I wouldn’t be of help until I possessed power rivaling Legendaries. My apologies for not mentioning this earlier.”

Emperor Yun didn’t know how to feel about this. Even if Lu Ran had told him outright, he wouldn’t have believed it. Had the Six-Path Flower not confirmed it, he would never have guessed that Lu Ran, aside from being a descendant of Emperor Yan, was also a messenger of a Legendary lifeform. This was far more astonishing than being Emperor Yan’s descendant.

Even the empress, who had contracted a descendant of a Legendary lifeform, hadn’t become a messenger. To date, the only known messenger of a Legendary lifeform was likely the first emperor, the Hunter God. Emperor Yun never imagined that a disciple he’d taken on a whim would have such an outrageous background.

“The Divine Deer of Life, huh?”

Hearing Lu Ran’s identity, the Six-Path Flower also relaxed.

The Divine Deer of Life was a neutral deity. It had initially feared that its existence had been discovered by deities hostile to plant lifeforms.

After reaching a high level, it had rarely acted and had even hidden its aura within an animal. How could it have been exposed?

However, the fact that one of the Four Supreme Divine Dragons’ kin, the Divine Deer of Life, had chosen a messenger was unexpected. The Six-Path Flower studied Lu Ran curiously, trying to discern what made this young human man so exceptional. But after a long look, it still couldn’t figure it out.

“Senior Six-Path Flower, would you be willing to form a contract with me?”

Lu Ran’s question shocked Emperor Yun and left the Six-Path Flower speechless.

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Emperor Yun was startled.

Even as the Divine Deer’s messenger, this was too sudden.

Lu Ran scratched his head sheepishly. "My apologies... I just noticed Senior Six-Path Flower’s predicament and had a sudden thought.

“Senior, you’re hiding here in an animal form to evade restrictions, right? Just as humans are locked at certain levels by some Legendary beasts, plant lifeforms must also have their potential restricted by certain Legendary beasts.

“To help me grow stronger quickly, the Divine Deer granted me a contract space that ignores level restrictions. It occurred to me that if I could contract with Senior Six-Path Flower, it would be a win-win situation.

“I’d gain a powerful partner in Senior, and Senior would gain freedom. With the protection of the Divine Deer, a kin of the Supreme Divine Dragon, no Legendary beast would target Senior as a plant lifeform.

“Once we grow stronger, I could challenge Legendary beasts to break the level restrictions on humans, and Senior could challenge them to secure a future for plant lifeforms. We’d share the same goal.

“Senior Six-Path Flower, don’t you want to be the first to defeat a Legendary beast, shatter the existing rules, and usher in an era where all plants in the Stellar Moon Continent can develop sentience? Wouldn’t you want to pioneer an age for plant lifeforms?”

The Six-Path Flower’s mind was overheating.

This human, blessed by the Divine Deer, had struck a chord with every word. His persuasion skills...

The Six-Path Flower said coldly, “Although I couldn’t detect his heart... Yun Hao, this brat you brought is definitely scheming...”